


Spots of Sunlight

by TheQuietWings



Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: Asexual Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist, Autistic Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist, Blanket Permission, Established Martin Blackwood/Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist, Fluff without Plot, He/Him Pronouns For Nonbinary Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist, M/M, Nail Polish, No Angst, Other, Short & Sweet, Soft Martin Blackwood/Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist, those are always important always remember that even if only one is canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-26
Updated: 2020-10-26
Packaged: 2021-03-08 20:03:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 918
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27202198
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheQuietWings/pseuds/TheQuietWings
Summary: I desperately need more "Martin paints Jon's nails" content, so I made my own.
Relationships: Martin Blackwood/Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist
Comments: 16
Kudos: 200





	Spots of Sunlight

“What’s that?” The question is rhetorical, if not on purpose. The moment the words leave Jon’s mouth, absentminded though they may be, he knows that the little bottle in the bag Martin’s holding is nail polish, that he bought it at the little store down the street that Jon still hasn’t shown his face in, and that Martin thinks- Jon clenches his teeth and forces himself not to Know. It’s a boundary that’s important to Martin, and Jon does his best not to cross it, even if he can’t really stop the occasional trickle of information.

“Nail polish.” Martin answers anyway. He must see the small grimace on Jon’s face because he continues, “Knew that already, huh?”

“Yes.” Jon drops his gaze, not out of guilt but rather so that he doesn’t seem more invasive than he already is. People had always told him he stared too much. Appropriate, considering. “Sorry.” Martin sets the bag on the table, and the nail polish upsets and rolls halfway out. He reaches over to Jon, takes his hand, and this is the part where Jon would tense, normally, or pull away. But it’s different. Because it’s Martin. So instead, he relaxes and savors the contact.

“Well, it’s a little useful. Just this once.” Martin smiles in a way that makes Jon think of his mistakes as stumbles rather than falls. “I thought it would be nice. I can’t remember the last time I bothered. Especially with Peter, I-” Jon can hear the storm gather in his voice, or what he hopes are storm clouds and not thick, choking fog. He squeezes Martin’s hand, just in case, to remind him that he’s there. “I didn’t really care. But that’s over and done with, and I could use something pretty in my life.” He grins. “Besides you, of course.”

“Right, well, uh,” Jon can feel himself blushing, and the realization only makes it worse. “Do you need help?” His attempts to salvage his dignity after that little blunder make Martin chuckle. Jon hates that he’s so easily undone by Martin’s affections, except that he doesn’t and making Martin laugh is worth any potential embarrassment.

“Sure.” Martin says. “You’ve done this before?”

“No.” Jon surprises himself with the response. He has to double check his own memory, but... no. Not once. He’d thought about it, certainly, had the inclination if not the time. He’d never worked up the courage to ask anyone else, and doing it himself would leave it lumpy and awkward, annoying him every time he looked at his own inexperienced handiwork rather than making him happy. And of course, Elias was Elias, which meant he demanded a ‘strict level of decorum’ from his employees. Somehow, that translated into Jon not being allowed to wear skirts (the first rule to go when he realized they couldn’t quit and Elias wouldn’t fire them) and he was sure that if he’d tried with nail polish, he would have got the same sneering reaction. “No,” he repeats. Martin’s making a face. “What?”

“We have to fix that.” Martin says, pulling out the bottle. “If you want to, that is. Or we could wait until I get a different color for you?”

“No, this is fine.” It’s a beautiful color, a deep purple that could nearly be confused with indigo, not dark enough to be confused for black, and it glitters brilliantly in Martin’s hand when the light reflects off the bottle. Jon loves it. The fact that he and Martin will have a matching set is just a plus.

The first thing Jon learns about nail polish is that it smells awful. They’ve reconvened on the couch, where Jon can sit cross-legged on one side facing Martin. He wrinkles his nose and turns his head away. Martin rolls his eyes but doesn’t comment. It’s unpleasant, but not overwhelming and more than worth it. The second thing he learns is that Martin’s done this a lot. He’s incredibly careful; He’s always had a deft hand. His handwriting is evidence of that, decorative but easily readable, as opposed to Jon’s, sacrificing form to write faster. Not a chip of paint escapes his nails. Martin scraps the brush against the neck of the bottle to keep the paint from clumping up, and the outcome is one perfectly smooth coat.

“How’s that?” There’s a hint of nervousness in his voice. Jon makes a show of inspecting his nails closely before he says,

“It’s lovely.” Martin’s face breaks into a smile. On a whim, he takes Jon’s hand and blows on the still wet polish, startling a real laugh out of Jon. The Eye informs him that doing that doesn’t shorten the length of time it takes to dry by any significant margin. The Eye can shove it. Martin is still smiling when he kisses the back of Jon’s hand, careful not to smudge the paint against his chin.

“I’ll do the other one while we wait for that to dry.” Jon nods, gives over his other hand. Martin doesn’t talk while he works, too busy focusing. Jon doesn’t mind. He’s content to watch his boyfriend, the minute changes of his expression as he paints, making miniature works of art for Jon to carry with him through the week. He’ll remember this moment when he looks at them, this bubble of simple intimacy. He’ll cherish it, and perhaps, when they’ve finished, he can try his hand at it and give Martin a little something of his own to cherish too.

**Author's Note:**

> season 5 who? i don't know her


End file.
